Ethics Committee Releases Scathing Report on Stockman

The House Ethics Committee announced that it was continuing an investigation of Rep. Steven Stockman, R-Texas, for obtaining illegal campaign contributions from his congressional staff.

The House Ethics Committee announced their move as it released the report from its Office of Congressional Ethics, which concluded the following:

(1) that there is a substantial reason to believe that Rep. Stockman conspired to accept contributions to his congressional campaign committee from individuals who were prohibited from contributing to his campaign because they were employed by his congressional office at the time the contributions were made in violation of federal law and House rules.

(2) that there is a substantial reason to believe that Rep. Stockman made false statements and endeavored to impede the OCE inquiry when he filed Payroll Authorization Forms with the House Office of Payroll and Benefits in December 2013, purporting to document the termination of Mr. Posey and Mr. Dodd from his congressional staff on February 12, 2013, and their rehiring on February 13th.

(3) that there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Stockman, having been aware of the illegal nature of the contributions made by Mr. Posey and Mr. Dodd to his congressional campaign, failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that those contributions were properly reported on his campaign’s FEC reports. This failure resulted in the reporting of those contributions in the names of others, in violation of federal law and House rules.

(4) that there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Stockman retained Mr. Posey and Mr. Dodd as congressional employees who did not perform official duties commensurate with their official compensation, in violation of House rules.

The Board recommended issuing subpoenas to Rep. Stockman and eight others for not cooperating with OCE’s review and declining to provide documentary or testimonial evidence to the OCE.

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Political MoneyLine is about following money in politics. It's a cash register for givers, receivers and those who want to watch the flow.

Kent Cooper has been uncovering and counting political money since 1972, when new disclosure laws took effect. He was assistant staff director for the Federal Election Commission's disclosure office for 22 years.

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They currently produce the Political MoneyLine website on CQ.com and developed its earlier versions: FECInfo, Public Disclosure Inc., and Tray.com.